Fluctuating In And Out Of Double-Mindedness

There is a mindset that continues to make faithless calculations...

"On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, 'Rabbi, when did you come here?' Jesus answered them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.' Then they said to him, 'What must we do, to be doing the works of God?' Jesus answered them, 'This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.' " - John 6:22-29 ESV

This is the same crowd that wanted to make Him a king the day before when God multiplied the loaves and fish to feed over 5,000 people.

"And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake." - 2 Corinthians 4:3-5 ESV

Someone who doesn't know God will live in A veiled mindset towards eternal things and someone with 'a casual relationship with truth' will toy with it and fluctuate in and out of double-mindedness. Even though proof is given more will be needed and then more and then more.

"A Song of Ascents. Of David. O LORD, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, hope in the LORD from this time forth and forevermore." - Psalm 131:1-3 ESV

A weaned child has matured enough to see that there is a feeding schedule.

"Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called 'today,' that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end." - Hebrews 3:12-14 ESV

God is not a vending machine. He has given us minds and abilities to be used in life but our primary work is to 'enter into rest' about who He Is and what He Is like. Jesus is the concrete representation of that character and nature. If we walk by sight we can easily enter into double-mindedness but we are ones whow walk by faith like a weaned child. That child remains calm because they 'calm and quiet themselves' even with an empty belly because trust has formed in their little soul.

Jesus was on the other side even though they knew He didn't get there by conventional means. Only faith was going to make sense of that. Jesus Is here right now in our lives. We can't put it all together yet. We are challenged in the same way. Will we keep asking and demanding or will we just rest and receive?

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Out Of The Dark Forest

"For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate." - Romans 7:15 ESV

Sounds familiar, doesn't it? I'm reading Romans chapter 7 very carefully this morning and making my way into chapter 8. It is like Paul has shown us a special pathway out of a psychic forest and out into an open place.

"For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit." - Romans 7:22 - 8:4 ESV

There are forces that work on all of humanity but Jesus has put a new dynamic in our lives and it is an aerodynamic force that works in the midst of the gravity we experience because of our fallen nature.

Jesus does what we couldn't do. Jesus did what the law couldn't do. That work is finished. There is no condemnation. We have a way out of the forest.

"And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." - 2 Corinthians 12:9 KJV

If we are too strong we fight it out in the forest and never see the mountaintop. Grace is 'sufficient' but we don't know that if we are held in the struggle that everyone is held in down on the ground.

In Jesus' victory, we see that 'the law of the Spirit of life has set you (us) free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.'

We are free in the 'no condemnation' place. When it is finished we cease from introspection. We are brought out by God's power.

"In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me. Thy vows are upon me, O God: I will render praises unto thee. For thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?" - Psalm 56:11-13 KJV

There are some projects I want to tackle today and I'm not going to pump myself up to go fight in the forest. I need eagle eyes. I'm not asking for strength. I'm asking for provision and I move proactively in reliance so that I can approach each moment as a free man. 'It is finished' takes me out of the cycle and into a place where power can rest on me because my soul is resting in God's Son.

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Reclining At The Table

I woke up thinking about this passage...

"Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, 'Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?' He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. Jesus said, 'Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.' " - John 12:1-8 ESV

We are always going to have needs. The thief says, 'What a waste. That should have been spent another way.' but it is not true.

Jesus could have said, 'Don't have this dinner to honor me. Let's just hand out the food on the street.' but He didn't. He reclined and enjoyed what was put before Him. Far from stopping Mary, He quieted Judas.

We also need to tell that saccharine goody two shoe voice that wants to stop us from enjoying God and each other to pipe down. Special times are special. More will always need to be done. The poor are always around but the visitation of God fills the room with a fragrance.

I for one like the birthday and anniversary party. I like the send off dinner and celebrating some ones return. These are rare times and we should savor them. The fire is always going to demand another log. Fires are like that. Our life with God is a life of recognition.

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Reading Passages That Involve Sleep

This morning I am reading scriptures about sleep and it is very interesting.

The Bible uses the concept of sleep in interesting ways.

"And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose," - Matthew 27:52 KJV

"And when he rose up from prayer, and was come to his disciples, he found them sleeping for sorrow," - Luke 22:45 KJV

"Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light." - Ephesians 5:14 KJV

Sometimes it speaks of 'checking out' and being absent but one of the Hebrew words (yashen - Strong's H3462) means to 'store up' or 'remain a long time'.

I try to start and end my day with God. That has been my custom for a long time. I am not always successful in that. There are times when I have wonderful thoughts just before I fall asleep and I wonder, 'Will I remember this later?' I don't think I do remember it all. That state is a different state. In a way, it is like a sunset. Sometimes day seems to just turn into night but on other days there are colors and memorable patterns.

I know many of you out there have problems with sleep. It is elusive for one reason or another. It could be pain or thinking that just never allows rest. It could be other things also.

I am centering my prayers on that today.

If you are having sleep issues I urge you to read all the Bible passages you can about sleep and rest. Then ask God to 'give' those passages to you in understanding and in application.

We have rest in Jesus and that is an amazing gift. Oh God, Please bless those who need a little more physical rest. We pray that you would give them a breakthrough in this area. Thank You God.

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Take Up Your Bed And Walk

"Jesus said to him, Get up, take up your bed, and walk.' And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath. So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, 'It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.' But he answered them, 'The man who healed me, that man said to me, "Take up your bed, and walk." ' They asked him, 'Who is the man who said to you, "Take up your bed and walk?" ' Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place." - John 5:8-13 ESV

Jesus told this man to do something. He did not want the man to rest in the same place he had been resting for the last thirty eight years. Is it work to move your bed? The religious people of the day thought so.

Discipleship involves moving our place of rest but Jesus disappears and the man is just left with words. It's interesting really because Jesus didn't do this with many people. He told Peter and John to follow him. They had a clear idea of who he was but this man had an identity in his sickness. He spent his days with sick frustrated people like himself who just couldn't get up fast enough. Jesus gave him words and gave him a commission like he gave Abram long before. He told him to leave what was familiar and enter into a new kind of rest.

"Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, 'See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.' The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him." - John 5:14-15 ESV

Jesus found the man in the temple. The man was in God's house.

We pray a prayer with people but their identity will linger near to the place they find rest. Alcohol. Sentimental attachments. Illness. Sports. Fiction. Politics. Salvation is real but unless it moves to discipleship there is a real danger that it will lapse back and the person won't 'find Jesus' again except in times of great strife. The temple is where we find Him.

"[Others] Where has your beloved gone, O most beautiful among women? Where has your beloved turned, that we may seek him with you?

[She] My beloved has gone down to his garden to the beds of spices, to graze in the gardens and to gather lilies. I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine; he grazes among the lilies." - Song of Songs 6:1-3 ESV

The girl had lost her beloved in the chapter before. He had gone to feed his flock among the lilies. The once sick man lost Jesus temporarily but found him in the temple.

We find Him at Church where people gather together and ponder His word. We find Him where Pastors feed their flock lilies (grace words). That is where we live in our new identity and find a new place to put our bed.

Moving the bed seems like work but really it isn't. It is establishing a new place to rest far away from a victim mentality.

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Careful Warnings

This morning as I read I'm thinking about warnings. How only someone who cares gives them and how it takes humility to receive them. Some one who is a 'master of their own destiny' may not receive a warning.

Not all warnings are good. Discouragement can be wrapped up in the form of a warning also.

God only warns to protect but men sometimes warn to discourage.

There are warning I have regretted giving. I try to be careful who I warn and how I warn them. I don't want to discourage faith. I do want to discourage foolishness that will get people hurt. A warning should be a specialized tool that only comes out rarely when absolutely necessary.

"Thus says the LORD: "Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. But they said, 'We will not walk in it.' I set watchmen over you, saying, 'Pay attention to the sound of the trumpet!' But they said, 'We will not pay attention.' Therefore hear, O nations, and know, O congregation, what will happen to them. Hear, O earth; behold, I am bringing disaster upon this people, the fruit of their devices, because they have not paid attention to my words; and as for my law, they have rejected it." - Jeremiah 6:16-19 ESV

Wow. What an interesting passage.

Our future depends on the rest that we have today. The watchmen on our wall cry out, 'Keep believing in Him!' The doctrines that frame God's character and nature keep us on the path of rest. Our souls have the tendency to wander but grace warns us.

"For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal." - 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 ESV

"So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest..." - Hebrews 4:9-11a ESV

What a great warning, 'Don't forget to rest!' This rest isn't a passive sleep. It is a guarded pathway with watchmen that speak to us as we go.

If we are humble we will listen. If we are meek we will be taught.

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The Call Of Grace

Abraham was a voice God found.

"Now the LORD said to Abram, 'Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.' So Abram went, as the LORD had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran." - Genesis 12:1-4 ESV

Wow. He was 75 years old and leaving everything he knew. It doesn't say when God first spoke to Abram. Did God say it when he was young but it took years for Abram to do it or did God say it in Abram's old age and he obeyed quickly? After 75 years on this Earth a person becomes set in their ways.

"Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, 'To your offspring I will give this land.' So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him." - Genesis 12:7 ESV

This was a beautiful thing about Abram. He built altars. He created physical milestones and worshiped God.

God told Abram to 'go' and he went. It might have been instantaneous or it might have taken some time.

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." - Matthew 11:28-30 ESV

Jesus says 'come' to us and our generation.

It really is a light burden and an easy fitting yoke. I see so many people struggle under a heavy burden and forced to wear coverings that do not fit them. Empty tradition is all some people know and when they leave their 'father's house' they aren't going towards a real hope they are just fleeing from the place they were as refugees.

Do you hear God's voice this morning saying, 'Come unto me'? Is your burden heavy? He has a light one and He wants to trade your burden out for His.

Is it social pressure? Jesus says 'come unto me.'

Do you have financial worries or health issues? Jesus says 'come unto me.'

Is it fear or doubt or a situation that seems to have no solution? We have all been there. Jesus has walked where we walked. We can go to Him and leave the reactions of our genetics and upbringing behind. He will give us rest and like Abraham we can build an altar celebrating the rest He gives.

Later we will look back at these times and worship if we live this way. The landscape of our memory will have become be filled with altars of different shapes and sizes.

As I visit my memories this morning and rejoice I still say, 'The Best Is Yet To Come.' I say it by faith. If God can use Abram and change his life at 75 can't he do that and more for us if we will just come to Him?

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The Servant Of The Lord Shall Not Strive

Jesus is an excellent teacher. He did not just present knowledge to people in the Gospels. He gave life giving perspective.

"Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, 'Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.' And Jesus answered and said to her, 'Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.' " - Luke 10:38-42 NKJV

"Then Jesus said to them, 'You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.' But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.' Peter answered him, 'Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.' Jesus said to him, 'Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.' Peter said to him, 'Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!' And all the disciples said the same." - Matthew 26:31-35 ESV

Peter was confident in his own loyalty and Martha was weary from functioning in her own strength. Both people were striving.

Striving is contrary to the finished work of Christ. Both Peter and Martha were sincere in their efforts. They were trying to be loyal and helpful but they were just wearing themselves out in what was right.

Jesus was being renewed in what was real.

Oh, We need what he gave to them or we will wear ourselves out also.

We need to hear God's words. We need to accept His work on the cross. Our own thinking apart from the Bible will bring resentment. Our own efforts to be loyal will result in self loathing because of our failure or even worse... self righteousness because of our success.

Jesus does not strive.

"So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account." - Hebrews 4:9-13 ESV

The sharp sword of the scripture cuts away the things that cause us to strive. It breaks the attachments that make us think we should be strong in ourselves.

I choose what Mary chooses to do. She rests at Jesus' feet and basks in His word. Then when it is time to act she has what is needed.

It is finished! What good news that is. That is the truth we find when we find Jesus. When we see him we find that we have a place to rest.

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Wise Leisure Time

It is Saturday. Like many it is my first day off. I don't go to work and earn. Instead I can do what I choose to do.

"Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered. The people curse him who holds back grain, but a blessing is on the head of him who sells it. Whoever diligently seeks good seeks favor, but evil comes to him who searches for it. Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf. Whoever troubles his own household will inherit the wind, and the fool will be servant to the wise of heart. The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and whoever captures souls is wise." - Proverbs 11:25-30 ESV

This is a great 'day off' passage because Today is a day when I can trust in riches for myself. Leisure is a rich mans pleasure after all.

There is nothing wrong with relaxing. We all need it.

I see people who live their lives giving back and they are blessed people. They find joy in 'watering'. Souls are what is important to them.

I am going to go on evangelism today. I'm not going to make God happy or as a duty of some kind. Jesus has already done that on my behalf. I just see it as a wise way to spend my time.

"And he said to them, 'Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.' Immediately they left their nets and followed him." - Matthew 4:19-20 ESV

These men became 'waterers' they were no long seeking to gather only for themselves. Instead they found joy in laboring so that other could have and be blessed.

Don't get me wrong. It is going to be a fun day. I am going to eat nice food and laugh a lot in the midst of these activities. Just as I want to be wise in my work I also want to be wise in my play. I don't want to use this day off as an escape. What are we running from anyway? I want to use it to enter in to things. I want to use it to enter into people's lives near and far and give them what has been given to me.

I think the baseball coach who works a job and coaches kids doesn't regret living that way. He invests in a dozen young lives a season involved in a game he loves and it is a good way to live... the doctor who volunteers at a clinic... the family that visits a nursing home long after the grandmother who was staying there has passed on.

It is never to late to make a shift to a different lifestyle.

Investment is wise. Loving is good for our souls. It a a good fun way to spend our time.

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Moving Through The Seasons Of Life

There are things to do in life but those things to only carry us through the season. We need more than what activities can offer.

"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace. What gain has the worker from his toil? I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end." - Ecclesiastes 3:1-11 ESV

There is a God shaped hole in each heart. Nothing can fill it but someone shaped like God. Children can't fill it. Romance can't fill it and neither can a career or fame and recognition.

We all know men who just march through seasons of life because they have an activity to keep them going. The job becomes their identity. Their children become what they live for But nothing, nothing, nothing can fill that hole but God.

"A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, 'It is finished,' and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit." - John 19:29-30 ESV

The cross was the darkest time in human history. It was all the dying, tearing, hating and war wrapped up into one horrible day. Jesus drank the sour wine of all the worst of our seasons when He went to the cross but He went there to make things beautiful for us.

"And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh." - Ezekiel 36:26 ESV

Activity is a way of coping but relationships are what make things beautiful. If God takes the heart with a hole and replaces it with a new one then we can have relationships and do things for love's sake and we aren't trying to fill a space that can never be filled.

I see people putting on a brave face as they trudge onward and I wonder, 'Will they ever stop doing long enough to just be?' because we all need to just let God love us. Jesus already drank the bitter cup so we can live in the beauty of reconciliation.

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Mind Not High Things

"A Song of Ascents. Of David.
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O LORD, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.
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But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, hope in the LORD from this time forth and forevermore." - Psalm 131:1-3 ESV

Such a good psalm.

One key to apply the wisdom expressed in it is to understand the context. Songs of ascent were sung on the uphill journey to Jerusalem on the way to one of the feasts. At points in Jewish history they were sung going up the steps to the temple. Tradition says that some groups would stop on a step and sing a psalm and then move to the next step and sing another one.

The Hebrew word translated 'too great' is gadowl (Strong's H1419) and it means great in magnitude.

In a way this is the simplification we long to achieve when we go on a special trip like a wedding in another city, a vacation or a trip to a fair. The psalmist isn't saying they never mind high things or attempt large or complicated tasks they are saying that this is not the time to do those things because the family, with other families, is traveling to Jerusalem and it in a time for worship, fellowship and a narrowing of purpose.

It is also time to have a weaned soul that can endure discomfort knowing the provision is coming like a child that sees a schedule for feeding and is not driven and ruled by it's hunger to react and demand in panic.

"So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his... For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." - Hebrews 4:9-10, 12-16 ESV

There is a rest to enter into. There is a throne to go boldly towards. On this trip things are simplified. The truth that is God's sword cuts and divides so that motives and intentions are defined and visible. Attitudes become evident on trips like these. We are not mentally wrestling with large luggage that breaks our back. We travel light and have what we need. We pack with purpose knowing when we are going and why we are going there.

We have a destination and we worship as we go and say, 'hope in the LORD from this time forth and forevermore' because we value the pilgrim life and the vacation journey.

The high things are for another time because when we function in God's word and simplicity we get definition that exposes and illuminates the light burden of being yoked up with Jesus. The word of God whittles that large unmanageable thing into smaller manageable parts.

Jesus has passed through the Heavens already. He has moved past principalities and powers and sits at our destination. We can rest going there also.

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Hush, The Neighbors Are Sleeping

Have you ever been quiet for the neighbor's sake? Maybe you want to do something but the thing you want to do is loud and it is late at night so you refrain.

"For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him." - Psalm 62:5 ESV

"For thus said the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, 'In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.' But you were unwilling, and you said, 'No! We will flee upon horses'; therefore you shall flee away; and, 'We will ride upon swift steeds'; therefore your pursuers shall be swift. A thousand shall flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you shall flee, till you are left like a flagstaff on the top of a mountain, like a signal on a hill. Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him." - Isaiah 30:15-18 ESV

Sometimes we quiet ourselves for our sake but this morning I am thinking about how we can respond to grace and enter into quietness for His sake.

Instead of staying here in quietness our minds can run away. We can run to fantasy and have our own little never never land. We flee away. The television becomes our noise or perhaps it is alcohol or lust of some kind. We chase the different scenarios around the living room of our mind. We make a ruckus with our 'should of's and 'could of's. We bang the drums of right and wrong. Perhaps it is a violin of self pity or maybe the hip hop of anger and self entitlement. We laugh loud to stave off the boredom. Instead of quiet purpose we run.

There is a place where God is waiting to be gracious. In quietness for His sake we find that place. A quietness in response to grace.

We might say, 'I need to turn this down because my neighbor is sleeping.'

On a spiritual level we say, 'I need to quiet down because God is resting in His Love. Is it right for me to panic so loudly? Is it really so good blare the sounds of my land of pretend when God is waiting right here to quietly speak to me?'

If is not a mindfulness born from demand. It is one born of grace, honor and love. He cares so we care. He has given favor because of His Son. We come under that favor and pass through the narrow space to find a wide open rest.

Hush now. Simmer down. What does the Bible say? Are we running or resting? Are we looking or leaving?

God is waiting to be gracious to us. He lifts Himself up to show mercy. He wants to speak to us in objectivity.

"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever." - Psalm 23:6 ESV

If we run He will follow us and show us mercy when we have exhausted all our efforts but what if we just stay in quietness? If we rest then we will have the strength to rise early and seek Him at the appointed time.

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Rehearsing The Finished Work

With thankful hearts we can face any challenge. We have a throne of grace to approach in time of need.

"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified." - 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 ESV

Only one person receives the prize. Grace has won. The race is over as far as salvation is concerned.

"So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest" - Hebrews 4:9-11a ESV

"And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them" - Acts 14:27a KJV

We rehearse what has happened and review the directions to enter into rest.

We are trained in grace and by grace to return to grace and look for grace solutions.

We can have unity as a team when we function in grace. We defer to one another for a common goal... revealing God's Love... revealing the Savior.

Just as runners wake up and tie the laces of their shoes perhaps half awake to go our and train for the coming race we can put on Jesus Christ and become oriented to grace.

It is work for the runner and takes effort. Our faith is effortless. As a matter of fact it is the opposite. We cease from striving and remind ourselves that, 'It is finished.' there was only one winner.

Today is the day to bask in the victory that has already been won.

With thankful hearts we can face any challenge. We are more than conquerors. Grace has won and Jesus has handed the trophy to us.

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A Life of Faith Rest

Live by faith. Rest in Faith.

Faith. Rest. Life.

"Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me." - Colossians 1:28-29 ESV

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, 'The righteous shall live by faith.' " - Romans 1:16-17 ESV

The Gospel reveals the grace of God and a faith to faith progression in grace reveals the righteousness of God.

Our struggle is often to enter in faith rest and live our lives from that place.

"We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions." - Romans 6:9-12 ESV

There is a reckoning involved in that struggle. We mentally identify with Christ's death and the new life that we can now live. The struggle is mental. The battlefield is the mind.

The witness of righteousness however is not mental it is a life of faith moving to faith in a progression.

I struggle with decisions... so do you I'm sure. Not all of them. Some are clear cut and obvious. Others are not. Situations are fluid and decisions must be made.

A believer has God's power working in them. Anyone can have God's power working on them. God is sovereign and does things with people all the time but the believer in Christ has the unique privilege of being a co-laborer with Christ.

"I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building." - 1 Corinthians 3:6-9 KJV

Faith. Rest. Life.

Life. Rest. Faith.

No passivity today... just rest. No mental laziness. We rise from sleep and move into faith. Situations and problems will try to move us away from faith rest but we toil to stay there... we cling to the anchor that holds... Christ inside the veil of Heaven and we remain tethered to Him by the Spirit in our thinking. Passivity would tempt us to keep our mouths closed today but we are standing under the waterfall of grace not beside it and others are bound to get wet when they talk to us.

The water flows from our belly... love resting in love making compassionate decisions. Our lives are not our own. This is our life... a life of entering into rest.

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Take Up Your Bed And Walk

Some thoughts this morning about the Sabbath, healing and the finished work of Christ.

"After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had. Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time,

He said to him, 'Do you want to be made well?'

The sick man answered Him, 'Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.'

Jesus said to him, 'Rise, take up your bed and walk.' And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. And that day was the Sabbath." - John 5:1-9 NKJV

That day was the first Sabbath that man had had in thirty-eight years. It was suddenly the Sabbath as God had truly designed the Sabbath to be for men. A holy day... a day of rest... God was in his day.

In Exodus 16 we see the connection between the manna and the Sabbath. If they kept the manna more than one day it would go bad in a dramatic way (see Ex 16:20) but on the day before the Sabbath there was extra work so that there could be rest the next day.

"On the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers each. And when all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses,

he said to them, 'This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD; bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over lay aside to be kept till the morning.''

So they laid it aside till the morning, as Moses commanded them, and it did not stink, and there were no worms in it.

Moses said, 'Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the LORD; today you will not find it in the field. Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is a Sabbath, there will be none.' " - Exodus 16:22-26 ESV

It is afterwards that the people go out on the Sabbath anyway that God tells Moses to make going out a restriction. Then even later in is firmed out into a law.

"Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant." - Exodus 31:15-16 KJV

That being said... the leaders of the day call this sick man now made whole out for carrying his bed.

"The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, 'It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed.'

He answered them, 'He who made me well said to me, 'Take up your bed and walk.' '

Then they asked him, 'Who is the Man who said to you, 'Take up your bed and walk'?'

But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place. Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, 'See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.'

The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, 'My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.'

Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God." - John 5:10-18 NKJV

The picture I got this morning after reading about the Sabbath, this healing and Jesus' statement was this... Jesus was working like the Father worked in creation... Jesus was living in the sixth day of that work. God made man on the sixth day and rested on the seventh. Jesus was a man collecting extra manna and preparing it because there would be no manna in the field once His day was done.

Carrying that bed was a trophy for that man. It was the end of thirty-eight years of paralyzing sickness it wasn't work. Jesus was living in the sixth day so that the sick man could live in the seventh day.

Jesus got in trouble with the religious leadership of the day but God was pleased with Him.

Most of humanity sits waiting beside a pool somewhere. They are hoping that today by some miracle they will muster up the strength to be the first in the water. Only the one in first was healed after all. (The one who needed it the least got healed in that system). Jesus won the right to slip into the crowd and offer us something else. He isn't offering us the 'first prize'. He gives us the manna that He worked to gather so that we can rest.

I imagine that sick man never slept in that bed again... nor did he quickly throw it out either since the Lord told him to take it with him.

The bed is a picture of our old life. It gets us in trouble but God wants us to carry it around for a little while. We will never sleep on that bed again. We have a different rest now. It is the testimony of what once was. It is tells the world we are different. We are a paradox... a walking contradiction that God loves and is pleased with. We have a freedom that glorifies God and bothers those who are living in the the letter bound system.

We are God's trophies of grace.

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Rest In The Finished Work Of Christ's Redemption

Just one verse this morning...

"For thus said the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, 'In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.'" - Isaiah 30:15a ESV

Rest. Rest in the finished work of Christ's redemption. Pure rest.

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Rest Has The Resources

Caring about people is a byproduct of knowing God's grace. I'm not giving up on anyone who is breathing air. That is my conviction

The number of people in the world is overwhelming. The number in our lives can seem that way. Needs go beyond us. We can only be in one place at a time. The beach is littered with starfish. We can only throw one back in at a time. Etc... etc...

Rest can live never giving up. It has the resources to live that way. Jesus sits in Heaven never giving up.

The next step after 'I'm never giving up' is 'I'll never be offended if rejected.' One enables the other. Try these two without the relaxation that grace brings and the fire will consume you. Jesus is fire that frees us and sends us while preserving us.

So, if you have ever been in my life you will always be in my life. God will sort it all out at the Bema seat (judgment for believers) and the White Throne (Judgment for unbelievers). As for me I'm not here to judge anyone. I'm just here to love people.

Jesus' life and words will separate the sheep from the goats in the end anyway.

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Pictures Of Rest

The picture of a little baby sleeping in the manger scene is such a picture of rest. Jesus born into the world helpless, harmless and at rest. God in Heaven at rest that His plan would unfold as He willed it. Angels singing.

Meanwhile at the castle (cue the ominous musical score) Herod stewed seeking ways to secure his power.

It is such a contrast.

We can study the baby sleeping and learn some lessons. The scriptures are filled with these pictures of rest.

This time of year, like many times during the year, is a time of diligence. There is so much to do and prepare but can I slow my mind or pause. Sometimes our body is not moving but our mind still is.

Here is a non-Christmas oriented reference but fitting.

"When I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though a door was opened for me in the Lord, my spirit was not at rest because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I took leave of them and went on to Macedonia." - 2 Corinthians 2:12-13 ESV

Rest was a barometer to Paul in his ministry. Sometimes we think completing the task will bring rest but in truth I must find rest first or else ask myself, 'Why am I working so hard?'

I was thinking yesterday about 'sin adding to sin' and how that process unfolds. There are the blatant examples like lying to cover a theft or to cover another lie. Things build and build causing a tangled mess but there are less visible examples like fear adding to fear or unforgiveness compounding upon unforgiveness... or lack of rest adding to lack of rest.

We know that if a person does not sleep for long enough they can lose their sanity. Perhaps Heaven sees someone who works and works without pause as spiritually insane.

Watch the baby. See His little chest rise and slowly fall as He sleeps peacefully in a dark world. Jesus the adult slept in the storm (see Luke 8:22f).

Walking with God means that our pace matches His pace. There is a peace for God's people. Grace labors in rest. It does much more in fact then any other thing can hope to do.

Today I am purposing to cast down the things that disturb rest. Those deceptive helpers will turn into accusations later if they are not dealt with decisively. Today is the day that the Lord has made... I want to rejoice... be glad... and have rest in it.

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Faith Rest at Our Gates

"A glorious throne set on high from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary. O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you shall be put to shame; those who turn away from you shall be written in the earth, for they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living water. Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for you are my praise." Jeremiah 17:12-14 ESV

Jeremiah had forsaken a works program with God. He had learned something that was against the flow of The culture he was living in. That receiving grace is the only way that God is happy with and the only way to experience life with God.

"Thus said the LORD to me: 'Go and stand in the People's Gate, by which the kings of Judah enter and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem, and say: 'Hear the word of the LORD, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter by these gates. Thus says the LORD: Take care for the sake of your lives, and do not bear a burden on the Sabbath day or bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem. And do not carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath or do any work, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your fathers. Yet they did not listen or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck, that they might not hear and receive instruction.' " Jeremiah 17:19-23 ESV

The Sabbath is a picture for us. The Sabbath was never given to the nations or gentiles. It was given to Israel to be a picture of faith rest. A day with no labor set aside where they could trust God without work.

"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:" 2 Timothy 3:16 KJV

Gates represent several things in the scripture. They are the place or commercial traffic. They are where public opinion is expressed. People are working when they pass there and wear their public working personas as they pass through. It is also the place where the world outside interfaces with the culture of what is inside.

The city can reflect an individual person. The gates are where the person meets the outside world.

This city would not enter into spiritual rest. Activity at it's gates was proof of this. There was no rest in God's provision.

" 'But if you listen to me, declares the LORD, and bring in no burden by the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but keep the Sabbath day holy and do no work on it, then there shall enter by the gates of this city kings and princes who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their officials, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And this city shall be inhabited forever. And people shall come from the cities of Judah and the places around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, from the Shephelah, from the hill country, and from the Negeb, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and frankincense, and bringing thank offerings to the house of the LORD. But if you do not listen to me, to keep the Sabbath day holy, and not to bear a burden and enter by the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem and shall not be quenched.' " Jeremiah 17:24-27 ESV

This is a good lesson for us. Receiving grace and living in faith rest is a protection for us. It is a place where the exchanged life can take place. Rest is the place where God works unhindered and we are quiet enough to hear Him and then follow His leading.

"Then the word of the LORD came to me: 'O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the LORD. Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it.' " Jeremiah 18:5-10 ESV

God deals differently with individuals then He does with nations. But the principles holds as true.

It is curious how Christ would not deny His royalty but deferred laying claim to His royalty previous to the cross. Christ distanced Himself from corporate, governmental and ideological affiliations. Evil was not paid for on the cross. Nor were ideologies that represent governmental authority. Christ refused to die as a representative of an Earthly government... even of Israel. He claims His Kingship later.

God will hold 'governments' accountable for policy. Specifically policies that affect His reputation and people. Evil is condemned as a kingdom and as a system.

The judgment of the nations (see Matthew 25, Joel 3, Isaiah 34) that will happen one day in the future will be a righting of many wrongs. Kings will shut their mouths at God's clear righteous verdicts regarding their actions.

Corporate decision making needs to be redemptive also but governments wield the sword of justice that protects the individual and if that judgment yields to compromise for less than Christ-like causes there will be a day of accountability for that nation and a withholding of blessing in history.

Christ's government when He establishes His kingdom on the Earth will be a perfectly just one. Just as governments and organizations should continue to strive for excellent in enforcing laws and policies that protect the individual now in this age.

God deals with systems differently then He deals with people. Personal sin is personal and individual with God. It is a problem between two people David understood this and said to God,

"Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest." Psalms 51:4 KJV

Because of Christ's payment on the cross God says to us,

"I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." Hebrews 13:5b KJV

The personal debt has been paid but we have the same decisions to make as individuals regarding our gates. Will faith rest and trust in God be our public policy or will we bear our burdens ourselves?

Bask in Love and Rest in Love

"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Galatians 2:20 ESV

"For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love." Galatians 5:6 ESV

We live by faith in the Son of God. The faith that is in us because He indwells us. It is faith powered by love and not proven by action. Action avails nothing. Christ is everything and His action was what availed something.

It is Jesus. It is all about Him. Everything was and is about Him. Not us... Him. Not them but Him.

He is where it starts and He is were it ends. That is the pure place to live. From there love can move us. Move us it will... but it will never move us away from this starting point.

"Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love." Revelation 2:4 KJV

"We love him, because he first loved us." 1 John 4:19 KJV

In God's love and the Son's faith we are centered and can hear. Maybe this morning we do nothing else but listen in rest at His feet. That is enough.

If I do anything else it is because I moved to do it by Him. Right now I want to just bask in the love without a care. It's like siting in a bath or resting in a hammock... for those moments there is nothing else and should be nothing else.

My rest is a person. He is my rest.